Griffin Closes In On Luck For Heisman Lead

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III closed to within one point of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck in the latest Heismanpundit.com Heisman Poll released on Wednesday (Sept. 28).

The combination of a bye week for Stanford and another fine performance by Griffin (he accounted for six touchdowns versus Rice) caused Luck–who has led the poll all season–to fall from 31 points and 8 first-place votes in last week’s poll to 22 points and 4 first-place votes this week.

Meanwhile, Griffin climbed from fourth place (12 points, 1 first-place vote) last week up to second this week with 21 points and 5 first-place votes.

At this point, Griffin’s remarkable statistical season appears to be making a compelling case to the Heisman electorate.

“He has more touchdown passes this season than incomplete passes,” noted one voter.

Boise State’s Kellen Moore was a solid third in the poll with 15 points and 2 first-place votes, while South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore was fourth with 9 points and 2 first-place votes.

Houston’s Case Keenum was fifth (2 points) and then seven players tied for sixth with 1 point each.

Now in its sixth season, the HeismanPundit.com Heisman Poll is made up of 13 Heisman voters from across the country. They vote for three players each week. Tabulations are made on a 3-2-1 basis, with three points awarded for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote and one point for a third-place vote. The last three years the final Heismanpundit poll was the most accurate Heisman poll in the country.

The Heismanpundit.com Heisman Poll, 9-28-2011Player, total points (first place votes in parentheses)

1. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford — 23 (4)

2. Robert Griffin, QB, Baylor — 22 (5)

3. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State — 15 (2)

4. Marcus Lattimore, RB, South Carolina — 9 (2)

5. Case Keenum, QB, Houston — 2

6T. Landry Jones, QB, Oklahoma — 1

6T. Russell Wilson, QB, Wisconsin — 1

6T. Tyrann Mathieu, CB, LSU — 1

6T. Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama — 1

6T. Brandon Weedon, QB, Oklahoma State — 1

6T. Tajh Boyd, QB, Clemson — 1

6T. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan — 1

About the Voting Panel

The 13 members of the panel include: Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, Teddy Greenstein and Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune, Olin Buchanan and Tom Dienhart of Rivals.com, Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman, Bruce Feldman of CBSSports.com, J.B. Morris of ESPN the Magazine, Austin Murphy, B.J. Schecter and Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated, plus Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News. Chris Huston, publisher of Heismanpundit.com, coordinates and also votes in the weekly poll.

About Heismanpundit

Chris Huston, A.K.A. ‘The Heisman Pundit‘, is a Heisman voter and the creator and publisher of Heismanpundit.com, a site dedicated to analysis of the Heisman Trophy and college football.
Dubbed “the foremost authority on the Heisman” by Sports Illustrated, HP is regularly quoted or cited during football season in newspapers across the country. He is also a regular contributor on sports talk radio and television.